IVCC to give training for tutors

OGLESBY — The I-READ Adult Literacy Program at Illinois Valley Community College will conduct free training sessions for new volunteer tutors in February.

Volunteers must have a desire to work with adult learners and be willing to tutor two-three hours each week, but volunteers do not need to have teaching experience. Fifteen hours of training are required for all volunteer tutors.

Required training sessions will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 in Room CTC-221 in the college’s new Peter Miller Community Technology Center. Participants are required to attend both days and should bring a sack lunch as lunch is not provided. Visiting an adult education classroom is an additional training component.

After completing the training, tutors are matched with learners 17 or older whose reading or math skills are below the ninth-grade level or who need to improve their English language skills. Volunteers may choose to tutor in one-to-one sessions at a local library or in small-group sessions at an adult education classroom within the IVCC district.

Free online tutor training is another option for volunteers whose schedules do not allow them to participate in the February training sessions. For information on the I-READ program, go to www.ivcc.edu/adulted.aspx?id=3120.

To register for the training sessions, contact Angela Dunlap, I-READ program manager, at 815-224-0372 or Chris Warren, I-READ literacy specialist, at 815-224-0345.